Tag: Scripture

Memorable Hike – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 1999

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Our family took many road trips across country when the boys were younger, mostly to national parks, and we hiked a lot.

A picture – of a photo – of my three guys in the Tetons (from our 1999 photo album).

One memorable hike was in Grand Teton National Park. What made this hike memorable were the butterflies. I find it interesting that I mentioned seeing beautiful butterflies on our hike in Brazil, but on this hike in the Tetons the butterflies were my companions.

One morning we started hiking together along a park trail and after hiking 4.5 miles we came to a fork in the road. For the first time ever, while hiking with my family, I decided to turn around and hike back alone while my three guys continued walking to a mountain lake. This was the first and only time I remember turning around while hiking and I don’t remember why. I do remember feeling safe, knowing it was an established park trail, and that I had enough water.

What made this hike memorable were the butterflies. While I walked alone along the path they fluttered along the side of me all the way back. I couldn’t believe it…they were my escorts, my guardian angels. I remembered it as one butterfly but my journal reminded me there were several butterflies.

My journal also reminded me that the guys continued another 2.7 miles to the mountain lake, Lake Solitude. It was there they turned around and hiked back to the ferry landing. My husband hopped on the ferry, but our two sons decided to continue hiking all the way back to the trailhead for an additional 2.5 miles which made their total 17 miles for that day.

I often think about this story and my butterfly companions. It makes me smile.

Psalm 121: 1-2

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Movement at Temperance River State Park

At the mouth of Temperance River.

One beautiful afternoon during our stay up on the north shore, we walked along Temperance River towards Lake Superior, from the parking area to a wooden bridge that crosses over the river to the other side of the park. While on the bridge we looked downstream to the mouth of the river and there was a young man fly-fishing. As we looked upstream, towards the water falls, our son and his wife alerted us to watch for fish jumping out of the water trying to swim against the flow. It was fun to spot several fish jumping over the course of a few minutes. Some types of fish return to the stream of their birth to lay eggs. To accomplish this, they must swim upstream against the current of the stream. It looked like a tough job.

If you observe closely you can see a fish jumping in this 9 second video. Click link:

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The fish jumping was one of the interesting movements we saw that afternoon.

The other interesting movement we witnessed was on the rocky beach of the state park.

I didn’t have opportunity to get a good photo of this lone dancer on the rock, but I wanted to capture the memory.

We continued hiking to the lake and found a semi-shady spot to sit down and read our books on the rocky beach when I noticed on the other side of the beach a woman dancing by herself on an outcropping of rocks.  I was far enough away so she didn’t know I was watching her, but there were others close-by and she would have known they were there, but still she danced with abandonment.

And it brought me much joy.

I sensed her enthusiasm and love for the beauty surrounding her and she was expressing it by dancing. I try to express these feelings by writing and photography but part of me wants to secretly find a hidden beach somewhere and dance to my heart’s content!

 

“Let all who come to Love rejoice, let them sing for joy! And protect them, so that those who live in your love may dance in your light!”

An excerpt from Psalm 5 from the book Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill

Quote

“Silence alone is worthy to be heard.”

I have remembered this quote, and repeated it often, since I read it on a sign in a national park out west years ago. (It may be a Henry Thoreau but I could not confirm that.)

I am in favor of silence and quiet. My favorite time of day is early morning; sitting in my chair, in silence, drinking coffee, thinking, praying, reading, getting energized for the day.

There can be silence when standing in awe of beauty. There is the companionable silence of friends together not always conversing. There is precious silence while holding a sleeping baby in your arms.

All worthy to be heard.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Melody Lucinda

Today we attended the funeral of Melody Lucinda… She was my nephew’s (my brother’s son) stillborn daughter…perfectly formed in the womb yet died at 39 weeks. We sang the hymn “In My Heart There Rings a Melody”. It was a sad but touching service.

My nephew penned these words on his Facebook page:

“Well… today, 7/20, at 39 weeks 2 days, our daughter Melody Lucinda arrived.

Unfortunately for us, she arrived at the gates of Heaven into the arms of Jesus instead of into the arms of her parents. She leaves behind a Melody sized hole in our hearts as we grieve and mourn her loss.”

He also included this Bible verse:

“the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” -Job 1:21

Her obituary reads: “Melody Lucinda, infant daughter of Daniel and Stephanie  was stillborn on Friday, July 21, 2017 at Woodwinds Health Campus, Woodbury, MN. Melody was able to be cradled in the loving arms of her parents and extended family. Her middle name is in honor of her mom’s special aunt Lucinda LaVoie, who preceded Melody in death in 2007.”

The organization calling themselves Halos of the St. Croix Valley ministered to Stephanie and Dan. Someone from the organization showed up in the middle of the night, right after Melody was birthed (the hospital called them). They came to take photos and hand and finger prints and did things grieving parents would not think to do but wish they had later. Melody Lucinda’s hand and foot prints were on display at the service today.

 

Norway Ties: Past and Present

Once upon a time, back in the 1800’s, Haktor Kaldestad married Brita Hovland. They were my great grandparents who lived in Norway and had five children. Johannes (born in 1878) and Torkel (born in 1887) were two of their five children.

Haktor Kaldestad (1853-1892) is the man next to the flagpole in the back.

Torkel, my grandfather, married Elizabeth and they had four children. They immigrated to the United States. Herbert, my father, was one of their sons.

In the 1960’s Herbert began working on his ancestry and started making contact with his family in Norway. Herbert traveled to Norway in 1969 to re-connect with them, and it has been a very good thing as our families continue to connect with each other to this day.

Johannes, Torkel’s brother, married Sella and they had five children. They lived in Norway. Hakon was one of their sons (a first cousin to Herb). Hakon had four children: Jomar, Anund, Heine and Siv.

Last week Jomar and his wife Bente, Heine and his wife Kari, flew to Minnesota from Norway for a vacation in the United States, to visit family and travel to the East Coast. We were grateful we were a part of their itinerary. It was a delight to have them stay with us for a couple of nights. It was not the first time they have been here…they have been to our home in Northfield before, and we have been in their homes in Norway.

We had such a good time filled with lots of laughter and joy. Many more good memories were made to add to our collection of great times together.

Happy to be hosting cousins and their wives from Norway.

The one thing I thought of as we were talking about our ancestors is that my great-grandchildren will probably not know my name, or my husband’s name. Without our ancestry chart I would not have known the names of my grandparent’s parents…how fleeting our lives are.

So I hope to make a difference in the lives of my children and grandchildren.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.”  Psalm 39:4

Father’s Day

Father’s day…it’s a pleasure to celebrate my wonderful husband who is a great father to our two sons. But there is the sense of melancholy on father’s day when I remember my own father who died in 1974. I was twenty years old. My husband and two sons never met my dad and that makes me sad.

Herb & Ruby, circa 1940’s (my father and mother)

My dad was the son of a Norwegian immigrant, Torkel, who left Norway when he was 17 years old to find work in the USA. He and my grandmother had one daughter and three sons. Torkel was a carpenter by trade and taught my father the skills so then he became a carpenter too.

My father built this house in NE Minneapolis. We moved into it in 1953, when I was six months old. My mom sold it in 1982.

Mt dad was a kind man. He seemed to be well-liked. Favorite memories include  family road-trip/camping vacations. We pulled a wooden “crank-up” camper that my dad built. The crank-up was wood, not canvas, and very heavy.

In background, the only picture I have of the crank-up wooden camper, built by Herb.

It would have been nice to get to know my dad in my adult years. I think my dad liked to have fun and had a sense of humor and a sense of adventure…I wonder if that is where I get mine?

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who trust him.” Psalm 103:13

Retiring

Flowers and a diploma cover with an official retirement certificate inside were ours to take home after the reception for 40 retirees at St. Olaf College on Wednesday May 17, 2017. I’m retiring from St. Olaf College on June 1st. It has been a great place to work since 1998. I have had an unusual career there, working part-time over the years, in different departments but most consistently as the Christmas Festival ticket coordinator for twelve years. As was noted in my “spotlight” I felt it was a Christmas miracle each year as all the guests settled into 11,000+ seats to listen to their beloved choral tradition, every first weekend in December. It has been very good.. but now it is time for the next season.

Ecclesiastes 3

For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

 

Adirondack Chairs

The St. Olaf College campus is peppered with gold-colored Adirondack chairs this time of year, and we all – students, faculty and staff – use them. This spring we have two new chairs, a little different from the others, but even more wonderful because they come with a story.

About a year ago a colleague in our building passed away. He cleaned out his office one Friday afternoon and co-workers teased him asking “why?” and “are you not coming back?” Well, he didn’t come back. He had a heart attack Saturday morning and died a few days later. This week two Adirondack chairs were dedicated in his honor.

The rest of the story comes from the wood used to make the chairs. Apparently  he saved a pile of wood from a deck he dismantled years ago. He  thought the wood was too good to be thrown out. He kept saying some day I’m going to make something from it. He and his family moved the wood pile several times from house to house, much to his wife’s chagrin. After he passed away a friend  contacted St. Olaf and wondered if anything could be done with the wood. It was decided chairs could be built in his honor. His wife thought it was a great idea and when she saw how beautifully they turned out she quipped that she now wants the wood back.

The chairs have been placed outside our building, but who knows how long they will stay there…our students move these chairs all over campus and that is a good thing. These Adirondack chairs are a wonderful addition to St. Olaf’s  landscape in spring, summer and fall.

This reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes… He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

 

Every Child Has a Name

 

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“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me” John 10:14

I read this verse yesterday morning and kept it in my heart as I volunteered at Northfield’s Christmas Sharing later that morning. Christmas Sharing is wonderful program that serves hundreds of family’s each Christmas. Parents, who qualify, are able to come and “shop” (for free) for their children. They can choose among hundreds of toys that have been generously donated by the community. Parents can pick one big gift item for each child, a game per family, a book for each child, a pair of pajamas for each child (a team makes the pajamas all year long.) They also can choose one stocking-stuffer per child, a hat and a pair of mittens per child and one quilt per family (also made and donated all year long). There is gift-wrapping service too.

img_5031There are many, many hands that make this program work and it’s been working for many years now. There are different types of volunteer positions. One is shopping assistant and that is what I like to do. I follow along with the shopping cart as the client chooses the gifts. It’s especially fun when the mom gets so excited to find that perfect gift… and then she continues to say thank you over and over again each time she picks something out.

I’m proud of our Community Action Center that works very hard to make this happen. It’s a blessing to the clients but also to all those who help in some small way.  It’s a Christmas gift to the whole community.